This program is especially designed to prepare highly qualified students for careers in academic medicine and medical research. Formal course work and dissertation research provide the student with in-depth scientific preparation and research experience which enhances the application of basic science information to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Conversely, the Ph.D. education becomes more meaningful because of its disease-oriented emphasis.
The curriculum for M.D./Ph.D. students differs from that of Ph.D. graduate students in the basic sciences in that the former take medical school courses as well as selected graduate level basic science courses. The integrated training of the M.D./Ph.D. program enables students to compress their total academic effort by applying some course work toward the requirements of both degrees. On average, completion of the combined program requires a total of seven years.
The following graduate programs participate in the M.D./Ph.D. program:
Anatomy and Cell Biology
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Microbiology
Pathology
Pharmacology and Nutrition
Physiology and Biophysics
Preventive Medicine
Time limits for qualifying examinations and other procedures are determined by considering M.D./Ph.D. students as medical students for the periods when they are following the medical curriculum and as full-time graduate students during their years of graduate research prior to advancement to the Junior/Senior Continuum.
During the first two years of their program, M.D./Ph.D. students follow the medical school curriculum and gain added exposure to the basic science departments through a special survey course. Students are guided by the M.D./Ph.D. Committee, which outlines the integration of their graduate program with the medical school curriculum and serves as the students' liaison until they have selected a department and graduate research advisor. The graduate programs vary widely in the extent to which they allow credit toward the Ph.D. for courses taken during the first two years of medical school. M.D./Ph.D. students are encouraged to select a graduate department by January of the second year of medical school. Students will be required to apply for admission to the Ph.D. program by the deadline on the graduate application.
Beginning with the third year of the M.D./Ph.D. program, students enter their selected department as full-time graduate students. Although the content of graduate courses required of M.D./Ph.D. students is generally identical to that required of Ph.D. students in the same graduate program, M.D./Ph.D. students are permitted greater latitude in the scheduling of their graduate courses. Three years are commonly necessary to fulfill departmental requirements for the Ph.D., including course work, qualifying examinations, independent dissertation research, and writing of the dissertation.
After completion of the graduate program, the student is advanced to the Junior/Senior Continuum and completes the final two years of clinical training required by the medical school curriculum. No portion of clinical training is deleted from the joint program.
Further information about the M.D./Ph.D. program at the USC School of Medicine may be obtained by contacting: Office of the Associate Dean for Research, USC School of Medicine, 1975 Zonal Avenue (KAM 300), Los Angeles, CA 90033; (213) 342-1607, (213) 342-1610 (FAX).
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995